Associate Professor Noboru Chiba (Department of Occupational Therapy) and Associate Professor Tadayoshi Minamizawa (Department of Physical Therapy) have published a case report in Clinical Case Reports.

The paper, “Speed-dependent joint coordination during treadmill running in a post-stroke athlete: A case report,” examines the running biomechanics of a high-functioning post-stroke runner across multiple treadmill speeds. The authors report that distal joints in the paretic limb remained relatively rigid, whereas speed-dependent adaptations were observed in the non-paretic limb. Notably, at speeds above 6 km/h, the timing relationship between the hip and ankle reversed, with the ankle joint leading.

Clinically, this report suggests prioritizing training to improve distal push-off (ankle function) and enhancing running efficiency by retraining inter-joint timing. The study also highlights the value of multi-speed assessments and coordination metrics (e.g., continuous Lissajous analysis and cross-correlation) for quantifying coordination patterns during running and for identifying rehabilitation targets.

Paper Information
Journal: Clinical Case Reports
Authors: Noboru Chiba; Tadayoshi Minamizawa
DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.71354
Published: 25 Nov 2025